Book Club

I started a book club at my school as a way to build teamwork and comraderie among our staff. Although we really enjoy choosing new books to read and discussing a variety of texts, we mostly enjoy the time to get together on Tuesday afternoons, enjoy some snacks, and chat with other adults! 

We have shared children's literature and read:

• Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv
  
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo and Bagram Ibatoulline
  
• Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison
  

We just finished a book called The Zookeeper's Wife which is based on the true story of a couple/family living in Poland during World War II who own and operated a zoo. The story was really interesting and provoked many deep discussions relating to the horrible discrimination against jewish people during WWII and the unspeakable horrors they dealt with. Not only is it horrible to think about what happened to the jewish families, but just as bad to realize the impacts on the defenseless animals.

Today, for our last meeting, we viewed the movie "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." I highly recommend the film. It was not based on a true story, but was very touching. 

"Set during World War II, a story seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences."

The coolest part of our book club is that we can run it as a one credit graduate course through Portland State University called "Teachers as Readers" and we only pay $50.00. Technically, there is an instructor, however we are on our own to decide what we want to read, when we want to meet, and how much we read each week.  We run the class in accordance with the trimesters at PSU and typically meet 8-10 times for about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes each week. The class is fun to take and there is no pressure if someone has to miss a meeting or doesn't read all the weekly assignment. I more often find that group members read MORE than the required reading because they are so into the books!

In a profession where individuals are isolated in their work, spending most of the day with children/students, it is so refreshing to have time with adults and time to focus on professional development and the personal enjoyment of reading great books. Happy reading!

Books Books Books

I have been reading a lot of about culturally responsive teaching as well as diversity in education and have gotten some new books from the paperbackswap.com. These are books I am currently reading (I always seem to be reading 3-5 books at once) and I am really enjoying each of them. I actually already finished The Glass Castle and it was a terrific story that provided me with a lot of insight with regards to what the home life of the kids I teach might be like. I feel like sometimes I have a disconnect with my students because I can't relate to their situations, but this book helped me to have an idea of what makes some families tick. It was a quick read and I finished it in about a day because it was so good. 

The other books are professional development type texts that I enjoy reading to gain different perspectives on my students and my teaching strategies. I am trying to become more culturally aware and sensitive so that my instruction meets culturally and linguistically diverse student needs. 

Oh Happy Day!

If you are a teacher, surely you will understand when I say that there are days when I go home feeling like a failure. Whether the kids are a little too squirmy or you can hear the crickets chirping after asking a question, every teacher has those days.

    

 Today was not one of those days. 

I invited one of my students to eat lunch with me because I know she needs extra attention. We chatted about High School Musical and she made good connections about friendships when I asked her if she would rather be friends with Gabriella (the nice character) or Sharpay (the not so nice character). I know that she enjoyed the experience and it made her feel good. So it made me feel good.

I started teaching my class how to tell time today and we worked on telling time to the exact hour. The kids were excited to learn about time and they ALL got it. Even the kids who struggle with math got the correct answers and it feels great when that happens! Tomorrow they are going to make their own clocks to use individually because they love to have something in their hands to work with. I will post pictures and instructions (tomorrow?)

My coworker and I are planning an incentive for kids to practice sight words over spring break and we are putting together some game packs that the kids can take home to practice their words. We are going to have a lunch party for all the kids who practice their words daily (or most days) during the time off from school. We are using gallon size plastic zip lock bags and including some sight words on card stock, directions for many different games, internet sites with additional games, a letter to parents explaining the incentive, and a calendar for the kids to check off when they practiced.  I am having fun planning how to make learning sight words fun and exciting for kids and I am looking forward to seeing their improvement!

After school, our EBIS (Effective Behavior and Instructional Support) team met to discuss the kids who are struggling in reading. Most of those children are in my reading group because I teach the lowest group. I was SO PROUD to see that 4 of my students who were not meeting benchmark in January have gotten over the 20 correct words per minute benchmark in oral reading fluency. A couple were even in the 30's! Woo hoo! My class works incredibly hard and it is such a wonderful feeling to see that all the hard work is paying off and their scores are improving. Most of all, I want to instill in my students a love for reading, but we have those necessary benchmarks we have to meet as well and it is great to see them getting closer and succeeding!!

Classified Employee Appreciation Week

This week is national classified appreciation week. I have 5 instructional assistants that work in my classroom throughout the week. Three of them trade off throughout each day and work with the student in my class who has Down syndrome. The other two help out during math time to support students who are struggling.

It is an amazing help to have other adults in the room to support learning, answer questions, and check/correct student work. It also gives me the flexibility to work with a small group myself or to have one of the assistants take a small group so we can support students who need additional instruction. I am so appreciative of the helpers I have that I wanted to do something special for them.

I went to Michael's Arts and Crafts store this afternoon and found some great items on the dollar rack. I got some blank cards and a cute "thank u" stamp, an assortment of list notepads with magnets on the back, and some small tins with crayons on them. I filled the tins with M&M's and am going to let each IA choose which notepad they would like. I also wrote each one a note in the card to let them know how much I appreciate them. I bought three bags of M&M's from KMart which were on sale for 3/$7. Each tin and each notepad was 1.00, the notecards were 4.99 and the stamp was on sale (25% off) and cost about 6.00. Altogether I spent about $30 which isn't a lot, but I think it will make the IA's feel special and that is my goal!

Just like Pinnochio

I have a student who lies to me all the time. It occurs each time someone tattles on her for an offensive behavior and it has happened about 8 times since she moved in a few months ago.

I know this student needs positive attention as it seems that may be lacking at home. I can tell she is exposed to things that a 7 year old should not see/hear and all I want is to be the one person in her life who shows her unconditional kindness (with boundaries of course), yet I am finding that rather difficult given the frequency with which she lies to me.

We have had several serious conversations about how to treat others and positive ways to begin and maintain friendships. We have talked about the importance of being honest as there may be one consequence for a poor choice but there are always TWO consquences when lying is involved. Despite these conversations, the lies are still coming.

How do you handle students/children who lie?

Teacher Discounts

Everyone knows that teacher salaries don't break the bank, but many companies and stores offer discounts especially for teachers to help minimize out of pocket expenses. 

Here are a few discounts that I have learned about...

JCrew-15% in store discount with school ID badge. JCrew does not advertise this discount, but I asked in my local store and they did indeed give me 15% off and that was in addition to the sale price! JCrew has nice clothes that make great additions to a teacher's wardrobe, but items can be quite spendy.

Ann Taylor Loft-15% discount. Go to www.anntaylorloft.com. You can sign up online and you will receive a teacher discount pass via email. I also got a 20% off total purchase coupon as well. 

Staples-Sign up for Staples teacher rewards (Homeschool teachers count). They have an annual teacher appreciation day in August where you get a goodie bag of free stuff. Plus, with the rewards card, you earn a quarterly rebate check for in store and online orders. Orders >$50 online are delivered free so you don't have to leave the house! Return empty ink cartridges for a $3 coupon off next purchase online/instore. Sign up for email notices (about 2/month) and you'll get big deals like $20 off a $100 order (this is in addition to rebate and free delivery). Good Back to School and Christmas sales. Has copy center service,laminating, computers, photo printing. This is super convenient and a real $ saver!

Office Depot-Office Depot has a program called Star Teacher that offers various perks to teachers. The biggest PLUS: You get 10% Back in Rewards on ink, toner, and paper, PLUS 1% Back in Rewards on nearly everything else we sell when you earn at least $10 in Rewards! PLUS a 15% Instant Discount on Design & Print Services! For more information or to sign up visit www.mystarteacher.com.

JoAnn Fabrics-10% discount. The JoAnn Fabric teacher discount card requires you to fill out some information online and then you receive the discount card in the mail. Because I applied, I also started to receive the weekly flier which includes 40% off one item coupons. 

Borders-15% discount. I never knew it until recently, but Borders gives a 15% off discount to teachers for all purchases that will be used in the classroom. The discount does not apply if you are buying items for personal use, but professional development texts, and children's  books are part of the deal. You will be asked to show your teacher ID badge and fill out a form in the store.

Barnes and Noble-15-20% discount. Teachers can get 20% off the list price of hardback books and 15% off soft cover books with the Education Discount Card.

Lakeshore Learning-15% discount. I am not sure if the discount applies with online purchases, but teachers can receive 15% off in stores with the use of a discount card that is provided with proof of ID badge. Similar to a grocery store discount card, the Lakeshore discount card comes in a plastic credit card size as well as the smaller size that can fit on a key ring. The discount does not apply to certain items, but I have found that most items I want to purchase are part of the discount. 

$$$ Go ahead...start saving money! $$$